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Crestone, Inc. is an early stage drug discovery and development company focused on developing novel treatments for serious bacterial infections.  The company currently has two main programs that address areas of significant and growing unmet medical need, both with novel mechanism of action agents.

1.         Novel treatment for Clostridium difficile infections.  CRS3123 is currently in clinical development for the treatment of C. difficile infection (CDI), and is nearing completion of Phase 1.  CDI occurs when toxin-producing bacteria colonize the gastrointestinal tract.  The infection spreads rapidly via spores which contaminate hospitals and nursing homes, and recurrence is a major clinical issue.  Due to the emergence of hyper-virulent drug resistant strains, mortality from CDI has increased over 700% since 1999.  In preclinical studies, CRS3123 shows much lower recurrence compared to vancomycin, a key attribute for improved therapy of CDI.  We seek funding for Phase 2 clinical studies to demonstrate clinical proof-of-concept.

2.         Novel oral agents for Gram-positive infections.  We are developing a novel class of DNA replication inhibitors, currently in advanced preclinical research.  These compounds selectively inhibit an essential component of the replicative DNA polymerase complex and are potent, orally available, and effective against all clinically-relevant Gram-positive pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae (PRSP) and Bacillus anthracis (anthrax).  We anticipate development of a drug similar to Zyvox in spectrum, but with key advantages such as rapid bacterial killing and improved safety.  This grant-supported program is expected to produce a clinical candidate in 2015.   

Crestone will develop these programs through key value inflection points in early clinical development, and then share the risk and expense of late-stage trials with a partner.  We have a talented core team in place, and have a plan for strategic hiring to ensure that we can accomplish critical milestones.  We have identified potential candidates to fill a number of key positions, while outsourcing activities that benefit from economies of scale/expertise, including large-scale chemical synthesis, animal testing, clinical trial execution and regulatory affairs.  We have demonstrated the ability to leverage non-dilutive financing to meet critical early milestones, maintaining a semi-virtual structure and low burn rate. 

apceth is a privately held German Biotech company focused on the development and clinical implementation of innovative biopharmaceuticals based on cell and gene therapy in the field of oncology.

Enabling platform technology for genetic modification of mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) to be used as drug shuttle to target tumors or other areas of interest.

Clinical development:

phase I with modified MSC in gastro-intestinal tumors completed (12/2014)

phase I/II with MSC for vascular disease completed

strong clinical pipeline based on genetic modification of MSC

Implementation of allogeneic cell bank system to accomodate off-the-shelf production of cell-based pharmaceuticals.

Strong network and IP,

interesting preclinical pipeline addressing oncology, lung disease, inflammation.

Secure financing by German Family Offic. Looking for partner/ cofinancing for ongoing clinical development (phase II/III)

Lumira Capital is a Venture Capital firm that changed its name from MDS Capital In 2007 and have been investing in companies since 1989. The firm is based in Toronto will additional offices in Boston and Montreal. The firm currently manages 2 funds for a total of approximately $180 million in assets under management. The firm’s Lumira Capital II fund currently hold approximately $115 million in assets and is looking to invest in companies across North America. The firms Merck Lumira Biosciences fund formed via a partnership with Merck Serano, currently holds around $65 million in assets and is looking for early stage opportunities in companies located in or looking to move to Quebec. The firm typically makes initial investments ranging from $2-$5 million of equity and looks to invest $8-$12 million over the lifetime of the investment. The firm plans to make 4-6 investments over the next 6-9 months.

 Iron Horse Diagnostics, Inc., founded in 2012, has developed breakthrough diagnostic tests in neurologic disorders where there is high-unmet medical need.  We generated and validated diagnostic tests for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and developed assays for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and concussion. Iron Horse Diagnostics has a significant  IP portfolio for these biomarkers in ALS and  TBI, which detects specific biomarker signatures in cerebrospinal fluid and blood in these disease states. We currently are performing a prospective validation of our ALS diagnostic in 4 sites in the US and 2 in Europe.

The ALS test will be commercially available by the end of 2015 anticipating over 300,000 test globally per year. TheTBI test is projected to be market-ready in 36-48 months with 8 Mill. concussion tests in the US alone per year.

Iron Horse Diagnostics has received a fast-track small business grant from the NIH  and funding from Biogen Idec to suppport the clinical validation and commerciliazation of the diagnostic tests in ALS.

Its management team  consists of a seasoned, internally recognized team of scientists, clinicians and business development/regulatory experts. Iron Horse is endorsed by the ALS Association and is working with an international network of clinicians to further the clinical adoption of the ALS test and support reimbursement strategies.

Iron Horse Diagnostics is seeking an investment of 1 Mill. USD to further support the commercialization of the ALS diagnostic test and product development of the TBI test.

WuXi Venture Fund is the corporate venture arm of WuXi AppTec, a multinational CRO based in Shanghai China with multiple offices across China and the United States. The fund makes equity investments into technology and life science companies to enhance or leverage WuXi AppTec's platform capabilities. The investment size will be varied based on a case-by-case basis. The firm invests in life science companies across the globe with an emphasis in China and the US.

Artery Therapeutics is a San Francisco Bay Area based translational biotechnology company with worldwide collaborations. Artery's novel peptide library derived from Apolipoprotein E shows promising results in various animal studies for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Diabetes mellitus, and Acute Coronary Syndrome.